The present invention relates to conveyor belts of the types employed at checkout counters for grocery stores, department stores and the like. The present invention particularly relates to such conveyor belts having means to display advertising materials on their visible surfaces.
Checkout counters employing conveyor belts for transporting goods placed on them toward a checkout position are commonly employed in many types of retail establishments, particularly in grocery stores. It is also a common phenomenon that retail establishments, and in particular grocery stores, employ every available means to advertise their wares to shoppers. Even at checkout counters advertisements and displays of merchandise are often employed to bring new products to the attention of shoppers and to stimulate impulse buying.
It has been suggested that the conveyor belts employed at checkout counters provide a vehicle for the display of advertising materials to shoppers who are waiting to have their purchases checked out. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,591 issued to Habegger, et al. on Dec. 25, 1990 for "Conveyor Belt", a conveyor belt is disclosed which is provided with advertising indicia on a visible surface thereof. Habegger discloses advertising indicia which are imprinted directly on the outer surface of the conveyor belt and thereafter coated with a clear layer of protective plastic material. The primary function of the layer of clear plastic material is to protect the surface of the conveyor belt containing the advertising indicia from abrasion and scratches, therefore increasing the service life of the advertising indicia.
A similar concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,526 issued to Conklin, Jr. on Nov. 24, 1992 for "Conveyor System With Panels Containing Visual Information." Conklin discloses a conveyor, such as a baggage carousel, having transparent panels to the underside of which visual information is affixed. Conklin further discloses a co-pending application in which the visual information is printed on a sheet of thin slippery material which is attached to the top surface of the panels on the conveyor.
In similar fashion continuous display devices which are only intended to provide continuous moving displays without the added function of conveying articles have been disclosed in various patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,255 issued to Ward on Jun. 8, 1982 for "Advertising Display Apparatus" discloses an endless carrier mounting a plurality of display panels. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,918 issued to Mazzocco, Sr. on Nov. 26, 1974 for "Continuous Display Device" discloses a continuously moving display device having a series of panels, each containing separate visual displays. The panels of Mazzocco comprise a permanent portion and a removable portion which further comprises a pair of rectangular sheets of flexible transparent plastic or similar material. The flexible transparent plastic materials are sealed along their lower and side edges to form a pocket in which a display sheet containing printed, pictorial or other visual material to be displayed is contained.
The use of static cling materials has been suggested as a means of pictorial display and for other purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,171 issued to Saetre on Apr. 7, 1992 for "Static Cling Greeting Card" discloses a greeting card constructed of panels of sheetform material. A thin sheet of static cling vinyl is electrostatically adhered to the smooth and nonporous surface of the sheetform material. The sheet of static cling vinyl may be peeled from the sheetform material and adhered to other smooth, nonporous surfaces to display printing on the sheet.
A display apparatus utilizing a plurality of electrostatic display strips is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,011 issued to Coulthard on May 4, 1993 for "Display System with Changeable Display Elements." The display apparatus of Coulthard includes a translucent display panel, a matte panel having apertures disposed over the display panel, and a plurality of display strips have electrostatic characteristics releasably attached over the apertures.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,536 issued to DuKatz on Sep. 28, 1993 for "Apparatus for Displaying Removable Indicia", an apparatus is disclosed which includes a base sheet to support individual removable indicia, a transparent cover sheet borne by the base sheet and adhesive which releasably affixes the base sheet and the transparent sheet together.
It may thus be seen that static cling materials have considerable utility in the removable display of pictorial materials such as advertising copy. Static cling materials having advertising indicia imprinted thereon may be easily placed and removed from a suitable base material. However, the use of static cling materials in placing advertising on moving conveyor belts must overcome a number of potential problems; for example, affixing static cling materials in such a fashion as to prevent the material from being peeled away from the base while at the same time avoiding a too permanent fixation of the static cling materials to the conveyor belt.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide for a conveyor belt of the type commonly employed in the checkout counters of retail establishments which is adapted to the changeable display of advertising materials.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for the display of advertising material on checkout counter conveyor belts which may easily be affixed, removed and replaced as required.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for the display of advertising material on the conveyor belts of checkout counters which is resistent to peeling, tearing, and premature removal from the conveyor belt.